Bourgogne, France -or- Our First European Trip

We had a little trouble deciding on the name for this post, so we gave it two. One thing we both agreed on though, was that this trip was F - U - N fun ("That boy is a P - I - G pig!" was the effect I was going for there).

Last Friday, we hit the road around 6pm and headed toward Dijon, France. Unfortunately, we ran into a ton of traffic and a drive that should have taken 3 hours turned into between 4 and 5. We had reserved a room at a Bed & Breakfast in Quincy, France (pronounced: Can-sey), but didn't get there until around 10:30pm. Quincy is between Dijon and Beaune, an area known as the Bourgogne (Burgundy) wine region of France.

The size and look of this town was something neither of us had ever seen before. The place we were staying literally did not have an address. The "address" on the print out from the internet said, and I quote, "It is across the street from the Little Church which is lit up part of the night." That narrows it down! But when we got there, we realized that the description could not have been more accurate. So wierd. We found the place easily and all was good.

When we arrived, we were basically sent to our room, asked when we wanted breakfast in the morning, and that was that! We were this woman's only guest for the evening and she spoke about as much English as I (Matt) speak French. So the "conversation" was interesting enough. We had planned on dinner and visiting a winery that night but given our late arrival, that obviously did not happen.

Saturday we woke up, had breakfast (bread, coffee, homemade jam, OJ and cheese) and headed out for our adventurous day. We were very near a little winery town called Nuit-St. George, so we decided to head into the town centre and check it out. We noticed that the name of one of the wine cellars was the same as the name of the lady who owned our Bed & Breakfast (Mme. Dufeleur). We walked in and a very nice guy (who could speak English) greeted us and took us on a tour of his cellars. Obviously we tasted a few of his wines and liquors, so we ended up being buzzed at 11am!

From Nuit-St. George, we drove up to Dijon and walked around a bit, had lunch, bought some mustard and then headed out to Nevers, a town in the dead middle of France. Agnes' cousin (Sarah) married a guy (Dominique) who is from Nevers. They live in Cincinnati (Dominique works for P&G), but were in Nevers visiting Dominique's parents. So, we were planning on staying with them for the rest of the weekend.

The drive was about 3 hours from Dijon and was completely through the countryside. It was beautiful! Rolling hills and wineries lined the road for a good portion of the trip. Sarah and Dominique said they were sending us though the heart of France and it definitely felt that way! There would be a little town or gas station every 1/2 hour or hour....otherwise it was you, the grapes and the cows!

We got to Nevers and had dinner with Sarah and Dominique, their 2 yr old daughter Anne Marie, and Dominique's parents. The drinks and food were awesome! They have a before dinner drink, wine during the meal, and an after dinner drink. And the food....like 5 courses of unreal stuff. We were calling it the "magic kitchen." They eat one course at a time (i.e., soup, then salad, then main course, then vegetables, then desert) and after each one, we thought we were done, then Dominique's mom just brought more out! Dominique's dad has a rather large garden just down the street from their house, and just about everything we ate had someting fresh from the garden included. The thing we liked the most was his salad....imagine the Olive Garden, but about 10x better. We pretty much went to bed around 10pm that night after eating and catching up.

Sunday we woke up and had coffee and pain chocolat for breakfast. Two things: 1) Pain chocolat is like this pastry with chocolate in it....really good and kind of addicting. 2) The traditional French way of drinking your coffee is out of a bowl. Not better, not worse, just different. Definitely makes it easier to dip your pastry or whatever you are having for breakfast, though!

We went to mass at St. Bernadette's (the young nun who had a vision of Mary in Lourdes, and whose body lies in the church). St. Bernadette's is also the home of the original grotto that Notre Dame's is modelled after. After mass, we walked around town, had a huge traditional French lunch, and went for a walk/run on this great path by the river that runs through Nevers.

We then went to a get together for Dominque that evening. Basically, it was this party that was arranged so he could see family and friends all at one time instead of people stopping over at the home one at a time, etc., while he is in town. The party was very nice and we got back to the house around 8 or 9 that evening. We had some cheese, sausages, wine and bread, recapped the evening and then headed to bed.

We left for home Monday around 9:30am and got back to Luxembourg around 3:30pm.

Random things:

Anne Marie is quite possibly the cutest and well-behaved baby we've ever seen. Dominique and Sarah speak only French with her at home, so it's funny to hear her babble in French. She's two years old, so her and I are about on the same level with our grasp of the language!

B&B's are the way to go. Much cheaper and nicer than a hotel, and you get a nice, homemade breakfast to boot. The one we stayed in had this shower that was probably the best I've ever used. We will have one of those in our house once we move back!

The wine was very very good in this area of France. We ended up spending about 50 euros on two bottles of wine (which can't be opened for a couple of years, according to the guy at the cellar) and some peach and currant liquor. Can't wait to break all that stuff out!

Tonight is the first annual Luxembourg Marathon. I am running the full 'thon, and Agnes is running the half. It's a little different that a normal marathon, since it starts at 6pm and has torches, lights and fireworks lighting the course. We'll be sure to take some good pics and post them next week. I'll make sure I run ahead of the Kenyans and get some good ones of them finishing 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.

Another trip has been added to the docket....Prague, Czech Rep., during the last weekend of June, with our friends Matt and Brandi from London (see the London post from last November).

All Hail "Her Ag-Nes"

Matt : "Ladies and gentlemen, the Agster has arrived. So, without further adieux….."

Agnes : "Yes, this is really me and yes, this is the chariot that brought me to Lux! Honestly, a rocking chair tied down with a rope on top would have completed the hillbilly look. My dad and I played with the idea of driving down Michigan Ave but we would have hated showing up the Mercedes and Beamers outside the Ritz Hotel.

So, I did not take too much time from my last day at Lakeshore, to visiting home to moving to Luxembourg. Honestly, the idea of taking days off, waiting around, etc did not appeal to me for several reasons: 1. I would have been more emotional leaving because I would have had time to actually think about everything 2. Everyone else would have been working during the day so what would I have done? 3. I wanted to be with Matt.

So, my “want” was fulfilled but I did have a few “challenges” on the way. Moving your life in 2 suitcases and one carry-on just isn’t possible. (Shoes and coats take up room!) I ended up with four bags and one small carry on. Well, I got to the Cincinnati Airport and the first thing I did was looked for a cart. None were to be found and then one of the airport men came up to our car and offered to take my bags in with his cart. Of course, I knew he wanted a tip and unfortunately, I did not have any money except a few bucks in change with me. (I had just stopped at the bank on my way to the airport and deposited all the US dollars I had left to my bank account b/c it would have been no use to me here…) He dropped me off where one weighs their bags in for International flights and left. Fine. Be a brat.

Well, of course I had to shift a few things around to get all bags at the correct weight, etc. In the process I placed my passport in one of the bags (idiot) so was frantically looking for it for about 10 minutes. Finally I found my passport and got the go ahead (my bags passed the weigh-in). The man looks at his watch and says that you need to check in w/n the next 10 minutes or you will be blocked from the flight. Great! The man w/the cart took off and I have 5 bags to get up to the front desk to check in. This guy was nice enough to help me to the front….Checked in, perfect. On through security with no problems, excellent.
I run to the bathroom and come back about to sit in my boarding area when my name is called to check in at the desk. What?? I just checked in. Now what?? Well, I managed to drop my boarding pass some where along the way and the attendant was returning it to me. I sit for five minutes and we board the plane. Can you tell I was a bit flustered and feeling 100% like an idiot at this point? I began wondering if anything else could possibly go wrong and then quickly erased that thought from my mind….I still had to travel 4100 miles over the “pond”!

On the flight, I had some wine, watched a movie and slept. Everything was going very smoothly and I was starting to feel good about things. I finally arrived in Lux, (lay over for 1 ½ hours in Paris) at 9:30a on Thursday morning. I went to the baggage claim and of course, all 4 of my bags are still in Paris. OF COURSE THEY ARE! So, I find Matt outside and am just so happy to see him. Finally, some familiarity and security is back in my life.

I came back to the apartment and relaxed, went for a run, etc. Matt went on to work. My bags then arrived around 3p that day. The good thing about losing the bags is that they (LuxAir) had to deliver them and carry them up the steps to Matt’s apartment (on the 3rd floor) for me….Woo-hoo!

So far things are going really well! I have been on the autobus, to the supermarche and shopping a few times by myself now. Life is definitely a bit slower here than in Chicago, but it’s a good thing. The area is beautiful! I have been going on walks/runs everyday and exploring a bit. As Matt mentioned in the previous blog, we are going to see my cousins this weekend and stopping in the mustard capital of the world on the way, Dijon, France….which is actually part of Burgundy (a region known for Ron and one of the many types of wines in France)."

Matt : "It's nice to have her here!"

The Cows Come Home

As promised, here are some pics of the cows that are in the field behind my apartment. Basically, they are in my back yard...

Either the incessant moo-ing has lightened up a bit, or I'm just getting used to it because it doesn't seem as bad any more. Also, the same farmer that tried to run me and my friends over (see the "Munster v Leinster" post) must own these cows because he saw me snapping photos of them and started to come over to investigate. I'm sure he loves me! But any-who.

Other than the arrival of Her Ag-Nes, not much has been going on to blog about. Just been working a lot still, but that should start to lighten up here over next couple of weeks (unless they plan on loading some work on me that I'm not aware of...which could absolutely without a doubt be the case).

Random things :

- The marathon training is going well. Last weekend I went 21 miles in under 8 minute per mile pace. That should put me right around a 3 hour and 40 minute marathon, which is my goal.

- Two things I've noticed about jogging here. Well, three: A) the hills are freakin killer and the scenery and trails are beautiful...a good combination, B) most guys who are not American wear neon multi-colored biker's shorts when they run...it's about the most embarrassing thing that a man could wear (don't worry Fredo, they haven't converted me) and it always provides for some good entertainment and makes me feel a lot better about myself when I'm strugglin on a long run, and C) cars will slow WAY down, flash their brights at you and honk their horns (as if you are in their way) even when you are up on the sidewalk and they are on the other side of the road! It's like "Whew! Dude, good thing you warned me you were coming or you and your car that's going about 10 miles an hour may have clipped me from 30 feet away!"

- The weather here has started to turn pretty nice. It's consistently about 70 degrees and sunny, with not much humidity. Basically perfect. And, it seems like there is some sort of festival every weekend. A couple of the guys from work and I have gone for drinks or dinner in the city centre after work a couple times and it's just really lively in the main plaza there. I think the summer here is going to be (as the Irish guys say)...brilliant.

- The Ireland trip is confirmed. Robbie (Irish guy from work who we are going with) and I talk about it a lot and it seems it should be a lot of fun. Agnes and I are also going to Nevers, France (near Dijon) next weekend to visit her cousin. Can't wait to try some mustard.....

Weekend with the Coopers

This past weekend, an EY Chicago colleague, Jacob Cooper, and his wife Annette visited the old Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Jacob is doing the exact same Global Exchange Program that I am doing, only he is stationed in Amsterdam.

They arrived on Friday afternoon and toured around the main part of Luxembourg Centre while I finished up with work. It took me a little longer than I expected to finish up. This was due to a variety of reasons, but probably most prevalent of those was that we had our "end of busy season" (even though it's not really over) party on Thursday night, and I'll be damned if the bartenders didn't over serve me. Will they never learn??

Anyways, I met up with Jacob and Annette, showed them the palace, and then we headed downtown to grab some dinner. We ate at a place that was recommended to me by several people, but turned out to be not that good. Strike One!

After dinner, we headed up to another restaurant to meet with my friends Robert and Brendan. First, it was Brendan's last night in Luxembourg before heading back to Ireland to finish his master's program and start work with EY Dublin (he'd been interning with EY Luxembourg), so I wanted to see him and say goodbye. Second, Robert's mother and grandmother were in town. Let's just say that Robbie's grandmother had the same bartenders that were serving me the night before...and she was hilarious! Apparently I look very Irish and Jacob looks very....she didn't know what, but very something.

Anyways, so we headed back home to rest up because on Saturday we were going to Echternach, a city in the northeast part of Luxembourg. Echternach is in "De Mellerdall," an area of Luxembourg know as "Little Switzerland," and there is a lake there that was supposed to be nice.

We arrived around 11am, and the place actually was very pretty. It reminded me a lot of Whitewater (Hamiltonians will know what I mean). The only problem, le temp c'est troup froid (it was too cold), and there was no one around (save for some killer geese that gave me a scare...check out the pics via the link above and you'll see what I mean).

So, this lake was my big plan for the day....Steeerike Two! What else could we do? Well, we walked around the city centre of Echternach, which was lovely, for a little while. Then we decided we'd drive out to Trier, Germany for the rest of the afternoon. That turned out to be a good time....there was some sort of wine and gourmet festival (at least that's what the sign said...I didn't see any wine or any gourmet food anywhere) going on. So people were out and having a good time, there was music in the air, etc, and it was a nice atmosphere.

After Trier, we drove back to Luxembourg and went to the sports fields a little ways away from my apartment to throw the football around and kick the soccer ball around. We were basically taking advantage of the last bits of sunlight of the day.

Once we had enough of the sports, we went back to my apartment to cook up a dinner of fajitas, chips, salsa and guacamole. It turned out really good. Maybe too good, since shortly after I finished eating I fell asleep on the floor watching TV. I'm pretty sure I was snoring, too, because I think I woke myself up once.

Sunday morning we all woke up around the same time and I cooked some eggs for breakfast. There was the potential of us going to this South African festival that was happening down in the city, but it was raining so Jacob and Annette just headed back to Amsterdam...Strike Three!

Although none of my plans seemed to pan out for us, it still was a nice weekend of hanging out and talking and sharing some of our experiences of life abroad with each other. Two things I noticed about them:
1. They have infinitely outdone me when it comes to travelling so far. They've been everywhere, and most big places (i.e., Paris) multiple times!
2. They have had some random, wierd and frustrating stuff happen to them too. Which makes me feel better....it's not just me! You can actually read about all their travels and experiences at their blog.


Random thoughts/things as of today:

- You might recall from earlier blogs that my apartment borders a big wide open area of fields and farm. It's really pretty and I love it. However, there are these cows out there that...well, let's just say that it kind of sounds like a T-Rex is hanging around outside my back deck....not so much a "moo" as an angry grunt/growl. I'll see if I can't remember to snap some pictures of them to post on future blogs.

- One week until the Ag-nes Monster gets here.

- Upcoming trips include Barcelona in June, and the "tour of Ireland" - Neanaugh, Galway, Aran Islands, and Dublin - in July. Barcelona is just me and Agnes, while the Ireland trip is me, Agnes, my buddy Robert (Irish guy) and his girlfriend Laura (Irish gal).

- I didn't realize this, but Amsterdam is only a 4 hour drive from Luxembourg. Who knew?